Cero Espada
by AlarataraWitchIce
Summary: Ichigo's Hollow convinces him to go to Hueco Mundo and take Aizen down. There, a series of events unfold that lead to the battle of Ichigo's life. M for: Yaoi, language, Grimm/Ichi, no under 18's please! Adopted from TheFoxInWhite.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**A/N: ALRIGHT! I have some information about this story before you read it, so ya better read really, really hard. **

**For one, I DID NOT COME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR THIS STORY! The idea came from a brilliant author whose penname is TheFoxInWhite. The first chapter for this story (which was the only chapter TheFoxInWhite uploaded) was going to be deleted, along with the two author's notes that were with it. **

**I decided not to let that happen, so I asked TheFoxInWhite if I could adopt this story, and was answered with a yes. **

**So all of you readers who came to this story because you read the original story by TheFoxInWhite, I thank you. I am hopefully going to continue this story until it's finished, like I completed my other Bleach story. Bear with me, because it's now the school year and I don't have as much time as I did in the summer. (I have an A in all my subjects. I'm so happy!) **

**And all of you who came to this story because you were expecting it to be the sequel of my other Bleach story, I am _so_ sorry. I'm not going to write the sequel for that story until _this_ story is at least half way done. **

**Note: The first chapter of this story belongs to TheFoxInWhite. The rest of the chapters belong to me, as do the author's notes. **

**Note II: I DID correct the grammatical errors/inconsistencies that were in this chapter, and I'll try to get all the facts right. Notify me if you see that I've missed any. **

**Note: I am going to bend some of the rules. For one, the portal or gartanta to Hueco Mundo is going to be able to be opened in a VERY short period of time, even though in the anime it took a while. **

**Warnings: Yaoi, sex, bad language, OOC almost all of the characters, and brutal mutilation of the story created by Tite Kubo. **

**Thanks for reading, and I'll do my best to continue this story that TheFoxInWhite created.**

**~M.M.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Prologue<strong>

The world was just _not fucking fair. _

Everything about it just pissed Kurosaki Ichigo off to no end. Especially all those bastards in the Soul Society. First, they attempted to execute Rukia without questioning the reason behind it, falling right into Aizen Sōsuke's cleverly laid trap. Now, they refuse to go after Inoue Orihime, calling her a traitor for deserting Karakura town and going to Hueco Mundo with an Espada. But Ichigo knew that Inoue would never do that, she was far too kind for her own good and could never turn her back on her friends.

Ichigo paced angrily in his bedroom, replaying the scene in Inoue's apartment over again in his head. After they had found out Inoue was missing, all the shinigami present in Karakura were sent back to the Soul Society, and not one of them even _tried _to fight the orders. Not even Rukia, who was indebted to Inoue for assisting in Rukia's rescue from the Soul Society.

Amazingly though, it didn't surprise him as much as he thought it would. Lately, Ichigo had been getting extremely sick of Rukia, her know-it-all voice, her punching him; hell, even those shitty drawings she did pissed him of more than usual! There were so many times he felt like he could just reach out and wring her neck, or take his zanpakuto and run it through her petite body. But he always stopped himself.

_"Now that's something I don't understand, king. If she annoys ya so much, why not just kill 'er?" _Ichigo shook his head, irritated that his Hollow, Shirosaki chose this moment to make himself present. _"C'mon, ya know ya want to. I can tell how much the blood from all those Hollows ya destroy excites you." _Ichigo willed the voice to disappear to the recesses of his mind once again. _"Ya want more, every single time ya kill..."_

Ichigo's hand snapped forward like lightning as he punched the wall with all his strength, injuring his knuckles in the process. The skin broke and Ichigo watched as blood welled up in the shallow cuts and dripped down the back of his hand. Subconsciously, he licked his lips at the sight of the crimson liquid.

_"See, it looks nice." _

Transfixed, Ichigo continued staring at his hand.

"Yeah, it does." Ichigo started, disturbed by his own words, and went to the bathroom to bandage his hand. He stared at the injury again, a roll of gauze from the medicine cabinet held loosely in his left hand.

"Ichi-nii," Ichigo whirled around, to see Yuzu standing in the doorway, a worried look on her face as she spotted his bleeding appendage. "Are you okay Ichi-nii? What happened to your hand?"

Ichigo turned away from Yuzu to try and hide his injured hand, upon which the previously white gauze was quickly turning pink because of the blood soaking through.

"Nothing. I just scraped it." Ichigo stated. He heard Yuzu mutter a quiet 'okay' and walk away.

Ichigo strode out of the bathroom and back to his room. He walked towards his bed, and gracelessly fell atop it, throwing his left arm over his eyes.

Shirosaki reappeared in his mind's eye, still pale as bone and grinning insanely. _"Ya know, maybe ya should go ta that Hollow world, Hueco Mundo, and join that Espada group. Ya'd get ta do all the killin' ya want." _

_Shut _up_, you damn Hollow. _Ichigo snarled in his head. _I ain't doing that. _

_"Why? I bet it'd be fun. Ya wouldn't have ta deal with all the shit in this world anymore, and I bet ya'd be able ta kill that Aizen if ya let me out for a bit. Ya'd be killing two birds with one stone." _The hollow laughed, his bloodlust showing through in the tone.

Ichigo considered the idea. He really didn't have that much in this world going for him; everybody was annoying the shit out of him, constantly asking if everything was okay and why he wasn't doing well in school. He was fighting Hollows every goddamn day! Of course he wasn't doing fucking well in school! But of course the humans couldn't know about that, so he had to make up excuses for every fucking subject!

Ichigo thought back to the day he fought that sixth Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. He could remember the crazed look in his eyes, the craving for blood, but he also could see a small shred of freedom, of rebellion.

The Sexta Espada was against Aizen, that much was obvious simply by observing his behavior, and only served the traitor because he was his creator.

Ichigo wanted that, the freedom, the ability to kill whenever he wished. What's the use in denying the need? He wanted to kill, wanted to rend, and watch as his victims died in agony, as he watched in glee.

_"Exactly king, that's perfect. Do that, go ta Hueco Mundo, kill Aizen, and take his place. You and I both know our strength far outmatches his." _Shirosaki purred.

The orange-head sat up, nodding to himself without even realizing his was doing it. He stood from his bed and began searching around, looking for his substitute shinigami badge. Once he found it, he pressed it to his chest and separated his shinigami self from his body. Said body slumped to the floor and Ichigo looked down at it. He was almost certain that it would be the last time he would see it.

After shrugging off all feelings of doubt, Ichigo ran towards his window, flinging it open and jumping through out into the night air.

He practically flew over the rooftops with one specific destination in mind. He vaguely felt a hollow nearby, but ignored it and gave it luck on finding some nice victims to feat on.

Ichigo skidded to a stop in front of a building, 'Urahara's Shop' painted on a billboard above the sliding doors. He stalked over and without even a blink, tore the doors away from their hinges with a loud cracking sound. He stepped into a shadow, waiting for Urahara to come running to the room.

It didn't take long for the former Gotei 13 Captain to appear, trademark hat placed firmly on his head and paper fan in hand.

"Ah, Kurosaki, it's just you." he stated as he let out a sigh of relief. "You didn't really need to break the doors down, you know. I'll get them fixed, but you'll be paying for them of course." The blonde smiled, his eyes slipping closed.

Ichigo glared from his corner. "Shut the fuck up Urahara. And open the door to Hueco Mundo, _now_." The last word that Ichigo spoke was growled.

Urahara paused in waving his fan, and looked in the corner with a wary expression on his face.

"I'm sorry Ichigo, I can't-" He was interrupted as the orange-haired teen walked out of the shadows and stepped into the light, revealing his black and gold eyes, and the one fourth of his hollow mask that situated over his left eye. The mask covered half of his nose, and a section of the top teeth rested just above if lip.

His hand reached out and gripped the front of Urahara's shirt. His partially masked face came within inches of the other's, and his glare was so cold his could have frozen hell over twice.

_**"**I said, open the fucking door**," **_the menacing voice was a mixture of two, Ichigo's own and a slightly higher pitched one, his Hollow's.

Normally, Urahara would not be afraid in situations like this. But he could tell, simply from this creature's voice (for it was no longer Kurosaki Ichigo, not in his eyes) that he would kill him without a second thought if he didn't comply with it's wishes.

The former captain nodded hastily before he was shoved to the floor. He scrambled up quickly and ran towards one side of the room and pressed a button in the wall.

A vertical light appeared in front of the Vizard, and slowly opened to reveal a dark abyss in which to travel.

"J-just run str-str-straight through unti-till you get-t-t to the n-ne-next d-d-doorway," Urahara stuttered, terrified for his life. The part-hollow-part-shinigami didn't show that he had heard him, simply walked forward towards the door. With a glare of warning, the former shinigami disappeared.

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><p><strong>AN: I hope I fixed most - if not all - of the errors and inconsistencies in this chapter, and the next chapter will be up as soon as I can figure out where I'm going to go with this story. **

**TheFoxInWhite, I hope the corrections and the warnings met your standards. **

**Thank you all for reading and if you could please give me some feedback on how I did so far, I would really appreciate it. :) **

**Note: I do have some information on the sequel to my Bleach story "By the Seventh Day". I have a poll on my profile on who should die. I ain't gonna keep all the characters in that story. So whoever receives the most votes will be killed off if they aren't important to the future plot line. **

**Thanks again. ~M.M.**


	2. Chapter 2: Damn

**A/N: Here's where my contributions to the story begin! Yay! Thanks to all of you people who read. :) You're awesome. **

**Note: For the most part, this story is going to be in third person. If I change my mind, I'll go back and correct everything, but that would take a lot of time and effort and I just really don't want to have to do that. So I'll just stick to third person if that's alright with you guys. **

**Note II: I'll be switching back and forth between calling Ichigo's Hollow 'Hichigo' and calling him 'Shirosaki'. And no, I do _not_ have to explain why. **

**~M.M.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Hueco Mundo<strong>

Ichigo ran through the darkness on a rock-solid path made of strong reishi. He'd done it unconsciously; he hadn't been told to make a path, but there it was, clear as day.

Darting through the darkness of the gartanta reminded Ichigo slightly of dashing through the Senkaimon to rescue Rukia. But then he was being chased by that cleaner thing. Now, he supposed, he could take all the time he wanted.

But he didn't want to. So he kept running.

_Oi, King. _Shirosaki called from the recesses of Ichigo's mind.

_What? _Ichigo was a lot less hostile than he had been in the past. This was due mostly to the fact that Hichigo wasn't a sign of evil to him anymore.

_I don't think that any of 'em are gonna go without a fight. What's your plan? _Hichigo asked.

_I'm considering just asking to join them. It's not like I need to challenge Aizen right now. In fact, that'd probably be a pretty bad idea. I need to get stronger. _Ichigo replied. He could see a doorway-sized stream of light coming from somewhere in front of him.

Ichigo burst into the midnight atmosphere that was Hueco Mundo and grinned. He'd made it.

It was mostly a wasteland: sand, some scraggly-looking trees with no leaves and no color, and the only major landmark in sight was a giant palace in the distance.

"That must be Las Noches." Ichigo said to himself. "Dude! It's so fucking far away!" Ichigo put his head in his hands an groaned. His hands encountered his mask and he realized that it now covered his entire face, but he was still in control of his body.

_I'm bein' nice to ya, King. _Hichigo sniggered, but soon sobered. _And anyway, can't you just use shunpo? _

Ichigo paused in mid mental-rant.

_Yeah. That's actually not a half-bad idea, Shiro. Thanks. _Ichigo thought, and gathered reishi under his feet in preparation for a flash-step.

With that very helpful shunpo technique, Ichigo reached Las Noches in just a few minutes, which was a feat in itself. The former Shinigami realized that Las Noches was a hell of a lot bigger than he had originally thought.

_Whoosh! _

_Clang! _

Ichigo stared calmly at the zanpaku-tō that had come very close to severing his head from his shoulders.

"I assume you are here to retrieve the woman." The black-haired Espada stated. His emotionless green eyes would've unnerved any normal person, but, then again, Ichigo wasn't normal.

"If you are talking about Inoue Orihime, you'd be incorrect. I'm not here for her." Ichigo said as he stared at Ulquiorra. "In fact, I'd like for you to take me to Aizen."

The sound of soft footsteps made Ichigo turn his head. Striding casually out of a pair of huge white doors and dressed in white, red, and black, was Aizen Sōsuke.

"You're the Ryoka boy that I almost sliced in half, aren't you?" Aizen asked, his brown eyes boring into Ichigo's.

"That's correct." Ichigo said. He brought his knee up into Ulquiorra's stomach so hard the Espada's breath whooshed out of his lungs and he dropped his sword. Ichigo watched at Ulquiorra regained his normal oxygen levels. "Oops."

"I simply must ask," Aizen said, totally unaffected by Ulquiorra's little struggle, "why you have that mask on your face. You are not an arrancar."

"I have this mask because I am a Vizard. A Shinigami who has gained Hollow powers, the exact opposite of your arrancars." Ichigo explained. "Right now, the Hollow inside my head is at peace with me, and that is why my mask has materialized."

Aizen's eyes practically glowed with the fresh information. A slight smirk adorned his lips as he spoke.

"Why have you come to Hueco Mundo, Ryoka Boy?" Aizen asked.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, and I would like to join you - as an Espada." Ichigo declared. He dropped his sword to the ground to show he wasn't a threat.

Without Zangetsu, Ichigo couldn't fire a Getsuga Tensho, and he most certainly couldn't fight anyone. He didn't know Kido, and his Hollow hadn't taught him how to fire a Cero.

_I'll get right on it, King. _Hichigo promised.

"Why are you suddenly changing sides?" Aizen was eyeing Ichigo warily. "The last time I checked, you were loyal to the Gotei 13."

"I was never loyal to them; I was only loyal to my friends. But I decided that they should learn how to fight for themselves because I was tired of doing it for them." Ichigo muttered flatly.

Aizen observed Ichigo for a long moment.

"Ulquiorra, please take Kurosaki inside to the meeting room. I wish for him to choose two of the Espada to fight." Aizen ordered, and then vanished.

'_Choose two of the Espada to fight.' _Ichigo mused as Ulquiorra started walking. _Hm…so many different meanings to that one little phrase…_

_I'm pretty sure he wants ya ta fight 'em, King. Need help? _Hichigo asked, his eyes shining with malicious intent.

_You bet your ass I'm gonna need help, Shiro. _Ichigo replied. _I wasn't even able to handle Grimmjow. And he said he was only number six! _

Ichigo followed Ulquiorra through the too-white halls of Las Noches and then into a huge room dominated by a gigantic rectangular table. Gathered around the table, filling all the chairs but three, were arrancars dressed in white.

All of them turned to stare at Ichigo when he walked in, making him feel slightly self-conscious. He hadn't changed out of his shihakusho - a telltale sign that he was a Shinigami. The dark shade made him feel out of place in the all-white room.

Ichigo stared at the Espada with his tea-colored eyes narrowed. They all peered skeptically back at him.

A hand on his shoulder made Ichigo jump. He looked up to the owner of the hand and saw the face of Aizen.

"My dear Espada. This fine young man is Kurosaki Ichigo. He has requested to join our ranks." Aizen stated.

"What!" A blue-haired Espada growled, standing up so fast his chair flew back into the wall. "This fucking Shinigami wimp? I practically handed his ass to him when we fought!"

"Grimmjow, sit back down and drink your tea." Aizen commanded. Ichigo marveled at how he had a threat in his voice, but managed to sound completely controlled at the same time.

But Grimmjow seemed to hear something that absolutely terrified him, and grabbing his chair from the dent it had made in the wall. He obediently sat back down at the table and snatched his teacup from its place, grumbling all the while.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, Kurosaki-san wants to join us here, as an Espada." Aizen continued. "And as you know, there is a special sequence of events that has to take place before that can happen." Aizen turned to Ichigo. "Kurosaki-san, please choose two people from the table whom you wouldn't mind battling for their place among the Espada."

Ichigo's eyes widened. He had no idea who was the strongest, or the weakest. He began to look up and down the table at the different faces. To his intense surprise, they were all very different. He'd been imagining them all to look as insane as Grimmjow or as extreme as Ulquiorra. But some of them actually looked normal-ish.

At the end of the table, closest to Ichigo, there was a very tall white figure wearing a mask that extended too far for the Espada's face to be even relatively normal-shaped, and had a huge white collar that flared up almost halfway up said mask. Ichigo could hear small bubbling noises coming from behind the mask.

Next to the Bubbling-One (as Ichigo had affectionately dubbed him) there sat a large, dark skinned-man with red markings on his face, and his mask fragment sat on his lower jaw. He looked bored, his head resting on his hand.

Ichigo's eyes scanned the forms of all the Espada. There was another dark-skinned man (this one looked a lot more serious than the first one), one tan woman (the ONLY woman, Ichigo noticed, in the entire group) showing way too much of her chest and stomach, a man with black hair who was sleeping on the table, a man with bubble-gum pink hair and silver square-rimmed glasses, an aged man who appeared to be wearing a headband, and lastly another black-haired man whose shirt collar looked like a spoon.

_King, need some help? _Hichigo called.

…_Yeah. I have no idea who to pick…I'm supposed to choose two of them_. Ichigo thought back.

_Go with the sleeping one and that huge one. _Hichigo suggested. _Their reiatsu is much larger than the other ones'. _

_Fine. _Ichigo replied.

"I pick you," Ichigo pointed at the large Espada, "and you." Ichigo finished, pointing at the sleeping man.

Said man sat up, suddenly alert. His blue-gray eyes focused on Ichigo with a coldness that made a shiver run through Ichigo's body.

"Well, ya sure know how ta pick 'em, Strawberry!" Grimmjow laughed. He had his insane grin plastered all over his face, his sharp canines glinting in the light. "Ya go for the two strongest Espada!"

The hand that was still on Ichigo's shoulder squeezed gently, and Ichigo looked up at Aizen's amused face.

"Grimmjow is correct, Kurosaki-san. You've chosen the cero and primera Espada, my zero and first." Aizen mused, his chocolate eyes glinting.

Ichigo felt like he was going to die. He'd chosen the two _strongest _ones in the entire room beside Aizen himself?

_Damn._

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><p><strong>AN: Alright, that was the second chapter! I hope you like what I'm doing so far with the characters and everything. Right now I'm focusing on the basic situation, and I promise that the action will pick up soon, just not at this very moment. **

**I'd appreciate it very much if I could get some feedback from you guys; I've gotten three people subscribing to this story, I have about a thousand hits, and I have zero reviews. It doesn't bother me too much - I know that people like this story enough. I would just be nice to hear it. Y'know, to feed my ego a little. :) **

**Thanks for reading! ~M.M.**


	3. Chapter 3: DESTROY!

**A/N: Alright, this is chapter 3! Thank you to everybody who read and reviewed. :) It made me very happy. **

**It's become known to me that some of you didn't quite understand what I was trying to make a point of, so I will say it again: **

**ANY and ALL characters that need to be WILL be OOC.**

**There, is that better, 'A fan'? Good. And, if you don't like it, I'm sorry but I'm the author and I can make these characters do whatever I want. **

**Note: The chapter concerning the fights between Yammy and Ichigo and Starrk and Ichigo won't be written until I have seen the episodes of Bleach (or read the chapters) that hold within them information about Yammy and Starrk's powers. I have no idea what they are as of yet. So, don't expect that chapter to be up anytime soon. I might just do some fillers to keep you guys entertained. **

**(Yeah, cuz we know that FILLERS are soooooo entertaining. *sarcastically*)**

**Now that that's over, on to the story! ~M.M.**

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><p><strong>Key: <strong>

Normal Narrations

"Normal Speech."

_Ichigo's Thoughts _

_Hichigo's Speech_

"IcHiGo aNd HiChIgO sPeEcH." (In unison. This is how it'll look when Hichigo's voice can be heard when Ichigo talks.)

"_Hollow Speech."_

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: <strong>

_This isn't going to turn out well, is it, Shiro? _Ichigo asked his Hollow once he had settled in the room that had been prepared for him.

_Hm…'m not sure, King. Gimme a minute. _Hichigo muttered. After a long pause, Hichigo continued. _Nope, ya'll be fine, King! I'll make sure of it. _

_How can you be so sure? _Ichigo asked warily.

_Heheheh…_Hichigo chuckled, _I wouldn'ta told ya ta chose 'em if ya couldn't take 'em on._

Ichigo sighed and laid back on the black-sheeted bed. They were made of a very high-quality fabric whose name Ichigo probably wouldn't be able to pronounce. He glanced around the room once.

Blackout curtains that blocked the view of the fabricated sky, black upholstery on the couch and armchairs, and white walls and flooring. Ichigo wondered how much strain his eyes would endure in the goddamn place, and then looked down at himself.

He'd been given a pair of white hakama pants, a white tank-top, and a black jacket much like Ulquiorra's, except for the fact that Ichigo's went down the front and the back, and was slitted up the sides. He had free range of motion. That was good.

Staring at all the white around him was making Ichigo irritated. He felt his anger rising steadily. That white needed to be splattered with red…Ichigo's hands itched for the hilt of his sword.

_C'mon King, go find something and kill it…slice its skin to ribbons…watch that white stain with delicious red…_

_Yes_. That was what he would do. He would go and he would fight something.

Ichigo sprang up from his bed and then batted the window's curtain aside. With a powerful leap, he launched himself through the window, for it had no glass, and felt the freedom of flying for about three seconds before the ground rushed up to meet him.

The ex-Shinigami landed, knees bent, on the concrete floor of Las Noches. He somehow managed to crack said concrete before he dashed off to the outer gates. When the gate cam in sight, Ichigo's hand reached behind his back to grab Zangetsu.

"_Getsuga Tensho_!" Ichigo roared, swinging his zanpaku-tō down and releasing the pent-up reiatsu that had been raging inside him for all of five minutes. Red-and-black energy shot from his sword and created a hole in the wall.

But it didn't stop there. As Ichigo ran through the smoke and the falling pieces of wall, he could see the red mass still going.

That was the most powerful Getsuga Tensho that Ichigo had ever released. But at that moment, Ichigo wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, so he didn't notice.

Ichigo kept running and running, and once he came to a large gathering of blood-filled entities, his sword arm came down over and over again on their heads. None of them were strong enough…none of them bled…Ichigo was left unsatisfied.

He felt Hichigo let out a roar in his head that Ichigo echoed out loud. He needed to find stronger Hollows…the ones he'd been killing were just Gillians…

_Go on, King! Kill! Maim! Destroy! Rip all of them to shreds! _Hichigo cackled as his King ran farther away from Las Noches.

_Destroy…destroy…destroy!_

Ichigo sensed a strong reiatsu nearby, and immediately followed it. He saw that it was a catlike, high-level Adjuchas eating a low-level Vasto Lorde.

The Adjuchas looked up as Ichigo approached stealthily. Its eyes narrowed behind its mask.

"_What are you doing here, arrancar?" _The Adjuchas asked, turning to stand in front of its kill so as to protect it.

"I aM nOt An ArRaNcAr. I aM a ViZaRd." Ichigo and Hichigo said simultaneously. "aNd I'Ll sOoN bE aN eSpAdA."

The agonized shrieks of the Hollows cut down by Ichigo reached the ears of all the inhabitants of Las Noches, twenty-two kilometers away.*

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><p>Ichigo returned to Las Noches in a good mood. He felt so satisfied with what he'd done that he even ignored the Numeros and Fracciónes that gaped openly at him, though he could've crushed them to dust like the insignificant life forms they were.<p>

_They're starin' at the blood coverin' ya, King. _Hichigo snickered.

Ichigo vaguely remembered the thick red liquid splattering across his mask and clothing. Indeed, the Vizard has accomplished his goal; the white of his pants had been stained red, and the black of his jacket was a dark crimson when it caught the light.

The dying screams of horror and pain had been like the sweetest melody to Ichigo's sensitive ears. He'd relished in those screams, welcomed the jolt of bloodlust they brought into his veins. Reminiscing about those short but gratifying battles brought a manic grin to Ichigo's face.

The normally white wrappings that sheathed Zangetsu were now dripped with crimson blood. The sword managed to look even more dangerous than it normally did - it was almost as tall as the orangette that wielded it, and shaped like a giant knife - even though it was carefully stowed on Ichigo's back. It looked so dangerous that everyone gave him a wide berth while he walked through the excruciatingly white halls of Las Noches back to his room.

Someone passed Ichigo a bit too closely for his taste, so he grabbed them by the collar and shoved them up against the wall.

Said person's hands were held in front of them in a defensive manner, and they were shouting.

Ichigo focused on the arrancar that he held up against the white abomination.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell's wrong with you?" The arrancar yelled.

Ichigo let out a growl. The weakling that he was supporting was making too much noise.

Quickly, Ichigo analyzed the arrancar. It was a Fracción, based on the amount of reiatsu that he exuded, and had black hair and a white mask that reminded Ichigo of a Saber-tooth tiger.

The angered ex-Shinigami determined that the Fracción wasn't worth his time. He dropped the arrancar and started to walk away.

"Wait a second! Who the hell are you?" The Fracción called after him.

Ichigo smirked inwardly. It was now time to try out his new title. He'd used it on that one Adjuchas that he'd destroyed - the first one.

"I aM kUrOsAkI iChIgO. I aM a ViZaRd, AnD I'lL sOoN bE aN eSpAdA." Ichigo said as he glanced back once at the Fracción.

The Fracción's golden eyes widened. His left arm was outstretched, as if to try and stop Ichigo, but he retracted it and looked down at the ground.

Ichigo grinned and continued his walk to his room.

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><p><strong>AN: I know that it's a really stupid filler chapter, but I still need to research Starrk's and Yammy's fighting styles so that I can write them accurately. And hey, you did get a bit of character development from Ichigo! And I introduced a certain Fraccion (I really love him. He's so cute XD) **

**So yea, tell me what you think about this chapter, even though I know it sucked ass. **

***I am NOT from a country that uses the Metric system. I just wanted to get used to using it because it's so much freakin' easier than using the English system, and that's what we use in my science class. **

**So, for all of you that are from America and you have NO idea how long 22km is, it's roughly 14 miles. ROUGHLY. I don't mean to say it's exact. **

**~M.M.**


	4. Chapter 4: Gold Eyes

**A/N: **

**Me: Hi! I'm back! Who missed me?**

**Ichigo: And just where the hell have you been?**

**Me: Uh…**

**Ichigo: *whacks me on the head with Zangetsu* **

**Me: OW! What was that for?**

**Ichigo: God damn it, answer the f***ing question!**

**Me: OKAY OKAY! I'm absolutely fine, and I'm extremely sorry that I haven't updated sooner. Everything was very hectic for a few days, because I was moving, and I had to get the Internet set up at the new house, and AT&T was being an ass, so that took a while. And after all that, I had to go back and re-watch several episodes of Bleach to try and remember the idea I'd had for this chapter, only to find that I forgot completely what I was going to write. So I had Writer's Block for a few days. **

**Any and all characters, including Ichigo himself, will be OOC if need be. (hehe, that rhymed)**

**I just want to make something VERY clear to everybody: I have NOT finished reading/watching Bleach, nor am I caught up with whatever the current episode/chapter is out right now. I do not know **_**everything **_**about the Bleach series. If I get something wrong, please let me know. **

**Please enjoy :) ~M.M.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: <strong>

Tea-colored eyes flickered over to the stark white bedside table, where his mask lay. He'd removed it before lying down on the bed.

Ichigo stared blankly at the pristine white ceiling above him. The white color - even though he'd gone on his killing spree - still irritated him. It seemed too clean, like a hospital. At least it didn't smell like a hospital, Ichigo mused silently.

If it had smelled like a hospital, Ichigo would've been forced to do something about it. He'd grown up around that hospital-ish antiseptic smell. It was familiar and comforting, something that the Vizard most certainly did _not _need in his new home. He wanted everything to seem as unfamiliar and scary as it could, so he could adjust faster.

It was a sad truth that he wasn't very good with change; he tended to get depressed and angry, which usually resulted in violence. People around Ichigo tended to get hurt, and that would depress him even more.

Ichigo didn't feel sad or angry right at that moment, but he did have an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. The place just seemed empty to him.

_Need somebody ta talk to, eh, King? _Shiro asked.

_Yeah. _

_Permission ta come outta yer mind? _

_Granted. _

Ichigo felt an unusual tingling at the back of his head, but when he reached back to touch the area, the feeling was gone.

"So what's goin' on, King?" Hichigo asked, sitting cross-legged at the foot of Ichigo's bed.

Ichigo stared at his bleached copy for a while, and opened his mouth to speak.

"I don't know what's going on." Ichigo began. "I feel kinda…empty inside. And I don't know why. Do you?"

Shiro grinned. "Ya realize that by askin' that question, ya imply tha' I know more 'bout ya than you do, don'tcha, King?"

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head slowly. "I guess. I honestly just want you to answer my question."

"Okay, okay. I'll answer yer question. The reason ya feel all empty is cuz ya need ta find yer mate." Shiro said simply, as if he were talking about the weather.

Ichigo had a WTF look on his face as he stared at Shiro. Shiro's manic grin grew as the seconds passed. Then a minute. Then five minutes.

"My _what_?" Ichigo asked finally.

"Yer mate. Yer other half. The one yer gonna spend the rest of yer life with. Yer 'one true love' and all that shit." Shiro answered. He held up his black fingernails to his face and appraised them as Ichigo spluttered and acted flustered.

When his composure was regained, Ichigo asked, "And how exactly do I find my 'mate'?"

"It ain't as easy as it looks in the movies, I'll tell ya that. But a good way to find 'em is ta search through all yer memories and see if there's a person ya really, really hate. Ya know, somebody ya just can't stand."

"Like you?" Ichigo asked sarcastically.

"Yer quick today, King, I'll give ya that," Shiro shot back. "But no. I ain't yer mate, as much as I'd _love _ta have the pleasure of fuckin' ya, that's a privilege that somebody else gets."

Ichigo blushed. "What makes you think that I won't be the one doing the fucking?"

"Cuz I know ya, King. Ya don't have what it takes ta be on top. Sure, yer powerful as hell, but yer not an alpha. Yer definitely a beta. But don't feel bad about it," Shiro said as he watched Ichigo's face fall, "cuz the betas control the relationship. Whatever they say goes. The alphas may be the alphas in the bedroom, but the betas become the alphas in public."

Ichigo buried his face in his hands. That was the single most embarrassing conversation he'd ever had with a sentient being. And with a dad like Ichigo's, that was saying something.

What really drew Ichigo's attention was the fact that he was practically going to be a girl. A girl. He was definitely not a girl, and he didn't act like one. So why the hell was he a beta? It just didn't make any sense…

"I'm gonna go do some training." Ichigo said suddenly. He grabbed Zangetsu, stood from his bed, and walked out the door with Shiro trailing behind him.

As they began walking toward the training grounds, Ichigo felt a familiar reiatsu trailing him. He felt himself become more aware of his surroundings. The sensitivity of his senses increased, but he could only hear his and Shiro's footsteps.

His nose caught something…feline in nature, which wasn't that odd considering that Grimmjow walked these halls as well.*

His eyes couldn't catch any shadows because of the odd lighting, but he knew someone was following him. Ichigo stopped short and Shiro almost ran into him.

"Hey! Wha' was tha' for?" Shiro asked.

Ichigo held up a hand and concentrated harder. Shiro instantly quieted. Ichigo reached a hand up to the hilt of his sword and grasped it. He whirled around.

"Show yourself!" Ichigo demanded. His commanding voice echoed down the white hallway, making the walls shudder.

Slowly, as if trying not to pose a threat, a small male stepped out from behind a column. Ichigo instantly recognized him as the arrancar from earlier and lowered his hand from his sword. He did not see the arrancar as a big enough threat that he would have to draw his weapon.

"Why were you following us?" Ichigo asked sternly.

The arrancar still looked confident and his gold eyes were hard.

"I was curious."

Ichigo was confused. What about him could've inspired curiosity?

"Why?" Ichigo asked.

"People do not just join the Espada. Someone has to be removed from the Espada for another to join. That means that, if you are a formidable opponent, my master's position as second Espada could be in danger. Though I'm afraid you don't pose any threat to him at all." The arrancar mocked.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed, and his lips twisted into a snarl. "Second Espada, eh? I'm sorry, I don't think he would pose a threat to me." He turned and started walking away, Shiro snickering behind him.

"Wha' was tha' about?" Shiro asked teasingly. "Ya look a lil' pissed."

"That Fracción is getting on my nerves." Ichigo said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I may have to eliminate him just to get some peace."

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><p><strong>*I would imagine that Grimmjow smells kind of like a cat because he was a panther Hollow, and a panther is a really big cat. I imagine he smells like my cat, and hair gel. :) <strong>

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm sorry it's so short and so late. We've been so busy lately...But thank you for all that read and reviewed! ~M.M.**


	5. Don't Kill Me

HELLO! I know this is another sucky author's note, but please bear with me. I have decided to rewrite all of this story except for the first chapter. I hit a dead end with the plot that I'd been thinking of, so I'm going to replace all the chapters once I have come up with a new plot line. Please don't try to kill me.

Yes, the new story is going to be yaoi, just like I planned for the original to be. No, it is probably not going to be with Ggio Vega. Sorry.

That's all I have to say for right now, except for the fact that this story is now on indefinite hiatus.

Thank you, good night/evening/afternoon/morning.

~M.M.


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